News

Flagship Group is on track to deliver 500 affordable homes in the 2024-25 financial year, amid a positive trading update.

The east of England housing provider has announced a list of highlights for the six-month period to September 30.

Flagship, which owns and manages over 33,600 homes – had a turnover of £128.5m – up £11m on the same period last year, and an operating profit of £57.3m, including asset disposals, and gain on joint ventures - a 41% margin.

Flagship also invested £47.5m to improve its existing homes, which was up from £46.8m on the same period in 2023.

Jonathan McManus, Chief Financial Officer at Flagship, said: “Flagship has delivered a strong set of results for the first six months of this financial year.

“The Group continues to maintain solid operating margins and stable liquidity headroom enabling us to continue investing in our existing homes whilst delivering a new affordable home programme of approximately 500 homes.”

Flagship Group Chief Financial Officer Jonathan McManus

But Mr McManus said the broader economic environment remained tough.

He said: “Debt costs aren’t falling as quickly as predicted, and sector-wide cost pressures are impacting operating margins.

“We’re committed to smart investments, aiming for all properties to meet EPC-C by 2030, while preparing for Decent Homes two and other regulatory changes that are increasing costs.

“We continue to hold our Moody’s A2 (stable) rating, and we’re proud to share that we recently achieved a Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating of 13.3 (low risk), putting us among the top in our sector and highlighting our strong ESG commitment at Flagship.”

Flagship’s Low Cost Rental Accommodation TSM (Tenant Satisfaction Measure) score for the period was 73.8%, up from 71.9% as of 31 March 2024.

Its overall customer satisfaction was 86.4% in September 2024, the highest level in the past 12 months.

Mr McManus said: “Our tenants tell us that repair times are one of the biggest factors in their satisfaction, so we’ve made it a priority to improve this year.”

“Work-in-progress repairs have dropped from around 11,000 in April 2024 to 7,700 by September 2024. The percentage of repairs completed within 28 days has risen from 60% to 78% in that time, with a goal of reaching 95% by March 2025.

“When excluding older legacy repairs (which we’re prioritising), we’re completing 99.7% of routine repairs within 28 days, exceeding our 95% target.”

Flagship is moving forward with its plans to merge with another housing provider, Bromford.

Mr McManus said: “Significant progress has been made by both parties with an expected merger date in the first half of 2025.

“The merger business case shows that the combination creates around £2bn in additional borrowing capacity over 15 years.

“This funding will enable new homes, large-scale regeneration projects, and investment in existing homes, supporting the new Labour government’s target of 1.5 million homes in five years.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Flagship Group and builds upon the robust financial viability that the Group has maintained over a number of years.”